New job, new car

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Need some help choosing a used car. For the last 2 years I've had a daily commute of ~100 miles. On Monday I start a new job with a monthly commute of 100 miles, so quite a change. Once I've settled in I will begin my hunt for a suitable car, but while I'm holiday this week I thought I'd make a start.

Regarding my requirements, this is what I've come up with so far.

1. Budget up to 17k, but would rather spend less than this
2. Mileage 8k per year
3. Mainly just me in the car, but also needs to hold family of 4 for the occasional trip to France, so needs reasonable space for luggage.
4. Preferably 4 doors
5. No preference on petrol or diesel. Petrol probably makes more sense considering the low mileage I do.
6. Not looking for extreme power. Wife has a 120d. Something sub 8s would be nice.
7. Under 5 years old, preferably newer. Less than 60k on the clock.

Started looking at BMW, Audi and Mercedes.

All help appreciated.
 
Man of Honour
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Do you want something with performance?

He's already stated his performance requirements are 0-60 in under 8 seconds - its in his OP.

Note to everyone else: This means that no, he doesn't need a BMW M3, or an E55 AMG, or a 500bhp tuned Audi RS4. Lets be sensible here - people who want that level of performance and are happy to accept the considerable financial compromises that result do not ask for a car that does 0-60 in under 8 seconds.

Something like a 325i or an A4 2.0TFSI is probably about as quick as we need go - and by going no quicker you can get something pretty new for the money.

BMW 5 series?

Not for this budget. It's simply too much money to spend on an E60 and not enough for an F10.
 
Soldato
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6. Not looking for extreme power. Wife has a 120d. Something sub 8s would be nice.
.

Can you talk me through this? I don't understand why you mention your wife's car.

My recommendation is for a nearly new Volvo s60. You should be able to get a pretty new one with low miles and good spec for your money.
 
Soldato
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You could spend quite a bit less than you've initially looked at and get a very nice octavia vrs tfsi - 0-60 7ish so not excessive given your needs, nice cars to drive, tend to be well specced and have a great amount of usable space for you, the family and the dog if need be. By all accounts they're reasonable enough on fuel and fairly reliable too.

I've been having a look at them recently and been really quite impressed, the facelift car looks fresh and the interior seems to be slightly improved too.
 
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You could spend quite a bit less than you've initially looked at and get a very nice octavia vrs tfsi - 0-60 7ish so not excessive given your needs, nice cars to drive, tend to be well specced and have a great amount of usable space for you, the family and the dog if need be. By all accounts they're reasonable enough on fuel and fairly reliable too.

I've been having a look at them recently and been really quite impressed, the facelift car looks fresh and the interior seems to be slightly improved too.

I always fancied one too, they seem to offer great value for money, but I can't seem to be able to convince the rest of the family.
 
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Associate
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[TW]Fox;21663040 said:
Not for this budget. It's simply too much money to spend on an E60 and not enough for an F10.

I'm not questioning your expertise, but I would like to understand why this is too much money to spend on a E60.
 
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I'm not questioning your expertise, but I would like to understand why this is too much money to spend on a E60.

It's car thats been around for a long time now - it first appeared a little over 9 years ago. £18k is a lot of money to spend on a car thats far from fresh in this way. It also majored on tech at the expense of quality. The facelift in 2007 went some way towards redressing the balance but, meh, I just don't see the point in sinking this sort of money into one really.
 
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[TW]Fox;21663483 said:
It's car thats been around for a long time now - it first appeared a little over 9 years ago. £18k is a lot of money to spend on a car thats far from fresh in this way. It also majored on tech at the expense of quality. The facelift in 2007 went some way towards redressing the balance but, meh, I just don't see the point in sinking this sort of money into one really.

Could this also be said of the E90?
 
Man of Honour
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To a lesser extent as it's a newer car, but essentially, yes. Both are cars which have ended production now - the E60 several years ago, the E90 at the end of last year.
 
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